Metals and Non-metals

Metallic elements occupy the left side and middle of the periodic table. Non-metals are found on the right side of the periodic table. Testing for metals and non-metals: metals conduct electricity; non metals do not conduct electricity except graphite ! oxides of metals form alkaline solutions in water oxides of non-metals form acidic solutions in water Experiments to show that magnesium is a metal: electrical conductivity test: conducts electricity burning to form magnesium oxide, dissolving magnesium oxide in water, and testing pH: alkaline solution 2Mg(s) + O2(g) 2MgO(s) Experiments to show that sulphur is a non-metal: electrical conductivity test: does not conduct burning to form sulphur dioxide, dissolving sulphur dioxide in water, and testing pH: acidic solution S(s) + O2(g) SO2(g)

Chemical Families
Elements in the same Group have the same number of outer shell electrons. The same number of outer shell electrons means similar chemical properties so each Group is a chemical family.

Group 1 The Alkali Metals

Group 0 The Noble Gases

Group 7 The Halogens

Group 1 - The Alkali Metals

Physical properties Group 1 metals are unusual metals - some of their physical properties are different to typical metals.

Lithium Sodium Potassium Rubidium Caesium

Li Na K Rb Cs

These are the properties of typical metals Differences: Group 1 metals are soft can be cut with a knife They become dull soon after being cut, as they react with oxygen in the air rapidly to form alkali metal oxides They have low density lithium, sodium and potassium float on water They have low melting points sodium and potassium melt from the heat generated when reacting with water

Comparing Group 1 metals to typical metals

Trends Going down Group 1 the metals - become softer - get more dense - melt and boil at lower temperatures

Chemical Properties of alkali metals Group 1 metals are very reactive! They are normally stored under oil. The oil acts as a barrier preventing them from reacting with oxygen in the air, or with water.

Trend Reactivity increases as we go down the group

An alkali metal stored in oil

An alkali metal in water

Explaining the order of reactivity in Group 1 Group 1 elements react by losing their outer shell electron to form metal ions with a 1+ charge, and hence gain a full outer shell. The further away from the positively charged nucleus the outer shell electron is, the easier it is for the atom to lose it, so the more reactive the element is. This is because the attraction between the negatively charged electron and the nucleus gets weaker the further away the electron is, and the more shells there are in between.

Reaction with water Group 1 metals all react with water to produce alkaline solutions. This is one example of being a chemical family. This is why they are called alkali metals.

Hydrogen gas is given off (fizzing) and a solution of the metal hydroxide is left behind. It is an exothermic reaction enough to melt sodium or potassium!
Li, Na and K float and move around on the surface of the water while reacting, until they are completely dissolved.

Potassium produce a lilac flame as it reacts, but sodium and lithium dont normally get hot enough to produce a flame.
e.g. 2Na(s) + 2H2O(l) 2NaOH(aq) + H2(g) sodium + water sodium hydroxide + hydrogen Reaction with halogens (Group 7 elements) Group 1 metals react with Group 7 non-metals to make salts called metal halides. e.g. Sodium metal react with chlorine gas to make sodium chloride. e.g. 2Na(s) + Cl2(g) 2NaCl(s) sodium + chlorine sodium chloride

Group 7 - The Halogens

The Halogens are the elements in Group 7 They are non-metals, having coloured vapours. The halogen elements consist of molecules made up of pairs of atoms. e.g. chlorine is Cl2(g) They each have 7 electrons in their outer shell Trends in the physical properties of the halogens As we go down Group 7: colour increases in intensity state goes from gas to liquid to solid melting point increases boiling point increases We would therefore predict that astatine would be a very dark (black) element, solid at room temperature, and with a melting and boiling point higher than those of iodine. Trend in reactivity Reactivity of the halogens decreases as we go down the group (opposite trend to Group 1)

Chemical Properties The halogens have 7 electrons in their outer shell. They react by gaining an electron to complete their outer shell, or by sharing electrons with other atoms.

Reactions with metals When a halogen atom gains an electron it forms an ion with a 1- charge, which we call a halide ion: (see notes on reactions of Group 1 fluoride Fmetals with halogens) chloride Clbromide Briodide IReactions with non-metals Halogens can react with other non-metals, sharing their outer shell electrons to form bonds. e.g. H2(g) + Cl2(g) 2HCl(g) hydrogen + chlorine hydrogen chloride

Displacement reactions of halogens A more reactive halogen can displace a less reactive halogen from an aqueous solution of its halide salts.

When chlorine water (a solution of chlorine in water) is added to a colourless solution of potassium bromide, the solution turns orange as bromine is formed, because chlorine can displace bromine from potassium bromide: Cl2(aq) + 2 KBr(aq) Br2(aq) + 2 KCl(aq) chlorine + potassium bromide bromine + potassium chloride This shows that chlorine is more reactive than bromine. A similar reaction occurs if chlorine is added to a solution of potassium iodide, with brown iodine being formed in the solution.
When orange bromine water is added to colourless potassium iodide solution, a dark redbrown colouration is seen due to the formation of iodine in the solution, because bromine can displace iodine from potassium iodide: Br2(aq) + 2 KI(aq) I2(aq) + 2 KBr(aq) bromine + potassium iodide iodine + potassium bromide This shows that bromine is more reactive than iodine. No reaction occurs if bromine is added to a solution of potassium chloride as bromine is less reactive than chlorine.

Group 8 or 0 - The Noble Gases

The noble gases are in Group 8 (aka Group 0) They are all colourless gases They are very unreactive They exist as individual atoms rather than forming molecules. Uses - balloons: Helium is used (rather than hydrogen) in lighter-than-air balloons because its lack of reactivity means it will not ignite. The only other gas with a sufficiently low density is hydrogen, which is extremely flammable and dangerous. Uses in discharge tubes: When electricity is passed through a glass tube containing a noble gas at low pressure, the atoms are excited and light is produced. Each noble gas produces a different colour. Neon is the brightest, hence its use in advertising signs.

Uses inert atmospheres: Argon is used to fill light bulbs because it is very unreactive. It prevents the tungsten filament from reacting with oxygen when it gets hot, and burning out. It is also used when welding to prevent oxygen getting to the hot metal and causing corrosion.

Ar

Explaining the lack of reactivity Their lack of reactivity is because they have a full outer shell and therefore dont form stable ions. It takes a lot of energy to rearrange the full outer shell so as to be able to form bonds with other elements to form a molecule, so this doesnt happen either.